Synaptics unveils in-display fingerprint scanner, hints that Samsung Galaxy S9/9+ will have it

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Synaptics unveils first in-display fingerprint scanner, hints that Samsung Galaxy S9/9+ will have it
One of the most important new features in the smartphone industry this year was actually one that never made it on to a phone. We're talking about the rumored in-display fingerprint scanner. First, there was talk that this would be found on the Samsung Galaxy S8 and Samsung Galaxy S8+. When that didn't happen, there was speculation that we would see the in-display biometric reader on the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 or the Apple iPhone X.

Eventually, KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said that the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 will be the first Samsung device to sport an in-display fingerprint scanner. And it was sort of funny when it was revealed by an Apple executive that the company never considered an under screen version of Touch ID, and was all in on Face ID from the very beginning of the iPhone X's inception. That's right, all of that talk about Apple's failure to come up with the technology to place the fingerprint reader under the display, and a Plan "B" to put Touch ID on the back of the iPhone X, were all bogus.

This morning, biometrics firm Synaptics announced that it has developed the world's first in-display fingerprint scanner named the "Clear ID FS9500." Designed for phones with near bezel-free screens, it reads the user's fingerprint with a single touch on a specified part of the glass. And here is the exciting part of Synaptic's statement. The company says that the in-display fingerprint scanner is already undergoing mass production and will be used on a handset being manufactured by a "Top 5" smartphone manufacturer.

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So which phones will be among the first with this technology? Synaptics might have left us a big hint in its press release when it said "with the industry quickly shifting to bezel-free OLED infinity displays (italics are ours), the natural placement of the fingerprint sensor is in the display itself." This is about as close to saying that the Samsung Galaxy S9 and Samsung Galaxy S9+ will be among the first smartphone models with an in-display fingerprint scanner, without actually saying it.


Nothing is guaranteed of course, but it would be an interesting way for Samsung to combat Apple's Face ID.

source: Synaptics

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